"It's just that three more years seems like a really long time to continue to stay at a high, high level of training and preparation and health," the LA Lakers superstar told CBS Sports. "That's a lot of years. For a guard? That's a lot of years."

Kobe Bryant thinks he has two seasons left before he leaves the LA Lakers for retirement. (AP Photo)

Bryant, 34, is starting his 17th season and, as noted by CBS' Ken Berger, has 51,000 minutes on his odometer. He's also dealt with a wide variety of minor injuries in the past few years, but averaged 39 minutes last season. He said that's not the only factor, though—he's not interested in hanging around as a role player.

"It's not about health necessarily," he said. "It's about 'Do I want to do it? Do I have that hunger to continue to prepare at a high level?' "

Bryant, openly, is attempting to match Michael Jordan's six NBA titles and appears ready to limit himself to two more chances. He said he had no doubt that the franchise would reload after a playoff loss to Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder, and they did—Dwight Howard and Steve Nash are in Lakers jerseys.

"I had a lot of faith in the organization. I've seen them do it. They rebuilt first by picking up (Shaquille O'Neal)... then that era was over and they rebuilt again. And now they've rebuilt again. I've seen them do it before," Bryant said.

Howard, meanwhile, says he's happy, relaxed and ready to move on from nightmare he created for himself in Orlando, and told SI.com that Bryant has been giving him pointers for awhile

"What people don't know is that this is one of the guys who I've been talking to for about four years now," Howard said. "And he has been an amazing help to me, just pushing me in ways—secretly because we played in the Eastern and Western Conference. But it's been him just talking to me, showing me how to do certain things with my team and things like that."

LA acquired him in a three-time trade that sent Andrew Bynum to the Philadelphia 76ers earlier in the offseason.

"I told (Bryant) as soon as I got here, 'Hey, I want to be one of the greatest to ever play. I want you to push me every day,' " Howard said. "And he was like, 'I'm going to push you, because I see something in you, and I want to make sure that I do my part.' And I promised him that I'm going to do whatever I can do."